Russian drones and missiles rain down on Kyiv and Kharkiv as Ukraine call for more help from allies

Russian missiles have damaged residential buildings in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv and Odesa in the south, and a blizzard of drones caused temporary power cuts in Mykolaiv region and targeted the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian officials say.

Russia, which is making territorial gains in Ukraine’s east, is conducting nightly attacks on faraway cities using missiles as well as cheaply produced drones which tie up Ukrainian air defences.

Of 145 drones used overnight, Ukraine shot down 71 and lost track of 71 more, likely due to electronic warfare measures used against them, the air force said.

Residents of the capital could hear the buzzing engines of attack drones flying over the city for several hours overnight.

The sound of automatic gunfire erupted occasionally as air defences tried to shoot them down.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukraine’s allies to step up pressure on Russia to prevent the components needed for the weapons systems reaching it.

“These Russian attacks on Ukrainian life can be stopped,” he said.

“With pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers’ access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, arms packages for Ukraine and a resolve that must be unwavering.”

A Russian missile attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv injured at least 23 people and damaged over 40 buildings on Monday morning, the regional governor and police said.

Another missile attack on the southern city of Odesa also damaged residential buildings and injured 10 people, Ukraine’s interior ministry said.

The overnight drone attack targeted energy infrastructure in southern region of Mykolaiv, causing power cuts while industrial facilities in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region were also struck, their authorities said on Monday.

Russia has continuously pummelled Ukraine’s power grid and infrastructure since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia says it does not target civilians but the United Nations has verified the deaths of almost 12,000 Ukrainian civilians and officials in Kyiv say the total is likely much higher.

The latest Russian onslaught on energy infrastructure renewed Ukrainians’ fears of long winter blackouts, although there were no casualties or significant damage reported in either Kyiv or the surrounding region.